1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a modular system and method for building a barbeque grill island using a block module and a hardware module. The block module has a grouping of individual structural building blocks, which may comprise exterior landscaping wall blocks, with the blocks having a plurality of configurations. The hardware module includes a grill insert having an enclosed firebox, a cooking surface and a cover, and may also include counter tops, hardware, and other accessories.
2. Disclosure Information
Barbeque grills have evolved from little more than a circular formation of rocks resting on the ground and tended by prehistoric cooks, to increasingly more elaborate devices. As barbeque grills have become more elaborate, the expense of such grills has grown proportionally. A good deal of the expense arises from the necessity, where masonry is used, was obtaining the services of a skilled mason to lay blocks or bricks using mortar. Of course, the cost of skilled labor renders such grills generally unattainable for most of those desiring such accommodations. In their efforts to avoid the need for mortaring components, inventors have attempted to use components which may be laid without mortar. U.S. Pat. No. 3,561,420 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,189,526 B1 disclose barbeque arrangements in which large precast blocks are used to form the barbeques. Unfortunately, the grills illustrated in the '420 and '526 patents suffer from the problem that custom made blocks must be used and such blocks are prohibitively expensive because the production volume is understandably low and freight charges for shipping such blocks are high. Moreover masonry components tend to be breakable and therefore further adversely affect the economic practicability of the grills shown in the '420 and '526 patents.
In contrast with the prior art, the present inventors have developed a system which allows the construction of barbeque grill island using individual wall blocks which need not be molded or mortared together. Such blocks are commonly available at landscaping supply companies which are ubiquitous. Once a predetermined grouping of blocks has been shipped to a consumer point of use, the blocks will be combined into stacked courses using a layout schematic and sequential instruction set furnished with the hardware module. Once the stacked courses and cap course have been laid without the use of mortar, the hardware may be inserted and the barbeque island put to use.